Job expo for new nurses

MANILA, Philippines - A consultancy group from the United Kingdom will join more than 50 exhibitors in the 2nd Philippine Nursing Opportunities Conference and Expo on April 4 to 6, 2008 at the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City. The exhibitors from private and government sectors will offer information, services, placement and study opportunities for an estimated 10,000 nurses expected to converge for the event. The International Student Advisors 4U, Inc., a UK organization offering study and work opportunities to nursing graduates, licensed and under-board nurses, said it will raise the level of competency of Filipino nurses through a two-year study program in a British university and a vocational school. Based in Essex, England, the ISA program is a pioneer in the country with the study and paid internship plan that has already sent Filipino nurses to the UK since it’s launching last September. Philip Leonard, chairman of ISA 4U, will speak about the ISA programs designed to “propel the global careers of Filipinos in the UK.." Leonard will brief interested medical health professionals on the study programs being offered in the nursing profession as a registered nurse (RN) or a qualified senior career in what they call as a “sandwich" course approved by the UK Home Office Immigration and the National Directorate. ISA was also a major exhibitor in the 1std Nursing Expo 2007 where officials from the organization briefed hundreds of interested nurses about the SWOPS (Study and Work Plan Scheme). Applicants who passed the screening last year are now in the United Kingdom enrolled in a BSc (Honors) degree in Social and Health Care at the Anglia Ruskin University near Cambridge while some are taking NVO senior care studies at the Academy of Learning in Essex, England. Leonard said the Philippines is one of the best sources of nurses in the world because of their innate professionalism and caring kind of nursing care. Because of the high demand for Filipino nurses, a significant number of nurses work abroad and has become a major source of dollar remittances to the country, making them a significant contributor to the economy of the country. This year, the country has produced 28,000 new registered nurses after taking their oath last March. Of this number, the president Philippine Nurses Association (NPA) said 80 percent have the intention to work abroad. – Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV